Thousands of flights across the country have been delayed which could force Congress to break its deadlock during the ongoing government shutdown.
The shutdown is in its second week after Congress failed to pass a funding bill to keep federal agencies open before midnight last Wednesday. One immediate consequence that average Americans have been feeling is the staffing shortages at air traffic control towers, which have led to massive flight delays from New York to Los Angeles.
There were about 10,000 delayed flights within, into or out of the U.S. Monday and Tuesday, and more than 4,000 delays Wednesday alone, according to flight tracking site FlightAware.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Fox News Wednesday, “Historically, there’s about a five percent of delays that is attributed to staffing issues in our towers. In the last couple of days, it’s been 53 percent,” telling air traffic controllers to “show up for work! You have a job to do.”
Air traffic controllers, like other essential federal employees, have to work without pay during the shutdown, but Duffy has noted a slight increase in sick calls.
“So, we’re tracking sick calls, sick leave, and have we had a slight tick up in sick calls? Yes, and then you’ll see delays that come from that,” he told reporters Monday.
Democrats and Republicans continue to be at odds over the shutdown, with some politicians using the flight delays to cast blame on their colleagues across the aisle.
California Governor Gavin Newsom faulted Trump for what he called the president’s government shutdown that has caused flight delays in Los Angeles, announcing that there were no air traffic controllers at Hollywood Burbank Airport for about six hours on Monday.
Duffy retorted that the government is shut down because his Democratic Party “can’t get its priorities straight.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, said, “Republicans’ government shutdown is making flying even more miserable.”
Republican Senator Ted Budd of North Carolina mentioned the “financial strain of the Schumer Shutdown” on air traffic controllers, referring to Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.
But flight delays actually may be the secret to bringing lawmakers to the negotiating table.
The last government shutdown — which lasted 35 days during the latter half of Trump’s first term — saw an influx of air traffic controllers calling out sick, causing sweeping flight delays that helped pressure politicians to open the government.
Former Representative Peter DeFazio, an Oregon Democrat who chaired the House Transportation Committee during the 2018-2019 shutdown, told Politico flight delays could cause Congress to change its tune.
“It did last time, but it took a long time,” he said, adding that the government only opened back up last time after “massive delays.”
But Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat, told Politico she doesn’t think flight delays will force Congress to break its deadlock this time, saying it’s “about health care.”
Democrats are demanding a reversal in Medicaid cuts laid out in Trump’s massive spending bill, which he signed in July, and an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies for their support of a funding bill.
Republicans have baselessly claimed Democrats want to give free healthcare to undocumented immigrants, despite the group not being eligible for federal healthcare programs aside from in emergencies.
